Archives for February 2018

Republicans in the Iowa Senate tonight cast their “yes” votes for legislation that would ultimately cut state taxes by more than a billion dollars a year. The vote came after what Republican Senator Randy Feenstra described as a “lively” debate.

“The one thing this talk or this discussion truly showed tonight, I mean…in black and white, it showed the difference between our political parties,” Feenstra said.

There was a sharp exchange when Democratic Senator Herman Quirmbach asked Republican Senator Charles Schneider where the GOP planned to cut the state budget to make up for the tax reductions.

“I think this shows a fundamental difference in approaches between your side of the aisle and mine,” Schneider said.

Quirmbach interjected: “Yeah, we believe in facts and you believe in fantasy.”

Democrats like Senator Pam Jochum of Dubuque cited a report indicating Iowans who earn less than 250-thousand dollars a year will get a tax cut worth a little less than $10 a week — about the price of a McDonald’s “Happy Meal”.

“So in exchange for that ‘Happy Meal’, Iowans are going to see increases in tuition at our universities and colleges,” Jochum said. “We may see further consolidation of rural school districts. We will have fewer state troopers.”

Senator Matt McCoy, a Democrat from Des Moines, said it was the “height of fiscal irresponsibility” to cut taxes by a billion dollars a year.

“Senator Feenstra, I know you mean well, but you are about to pilot a bobsled to bankruptcy for the state of Iowa,” McCoy said.

Feenstra, the chief Republican architect of the plan, responded at the close of the debate.

“We want to carry the Olympic torch for the hard-working Iowans and inside every one of our Happy Meals, the toy will be $1000,” Feenstra said, drawing chuckles from his fellow Republicans.

Tonight’s debate may be the final airing in the Capitol for Feenstra’s tax plan, however. Late tomorrow morning, Republicans in the House will hold a hearing for a bill that would implement Governor Kim Reynolds’ tax cut plan instead.

A bill that would ban nearly all abortions in Iowa after the sixth week of pregnancy has passed the Iowa Senate.

“Ultimately, Senate File 2281 gets at the very heart and soul of what it means to be an American, of what it means to be a person,” said Senator Amy Sinclair, a Republican from Allerton, who was the only bill supporter to speak during senate debate.

All 29 Republicans and the independent in the Iowa Senate supported the measure, which calls for charging doctors with a felony if they perform abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. The only exception would be for abortions to save the life of the mother. Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen of Des Moines said the bill calls for “forcing motherhood on Iowa women.”

“I believe every Iowa woman should have the freedom to decide if and when she wants to become a parent,” Petersen said. “Unfortunately, that is becoming nearly impossible with Republicans in control of the Iowa Senate.”

Every Democrat in the Senate voted against the bill. The proposal now goes to the House. Republican leaders in the House have not publicly indicated whether it is a priority for passage.

Groups and individuals calling for improvements in Iowa’s mental health care system say it appears some progress may be near. On Tuesday, the Iowa House passed a comprehensive plan to improve access to mental health care services in Iowa. Marion County Sheriff Jason Sandholdt was among advocates who were at the statehouse today to lobby senators to approve that bill.

“Our goal, with the Iowa Sheriffs and Deputies Association, is for when people have a mental health crisis, it’s just as important as somebody having a heart attack or a stroke,” he said during a statehouse news conference. “The people need the care and this bill will help do that.”

Mary Neubauer of Clive began “speaking out for change” after her son, Sergei, took his life in September. She said her son’s story “shows those with mental illnesses don’t have time to wait.”

“It’s too late for us and for Sergei,” Neubauer said. “…We have the opportunity to save lives. I want us to do better and I am not alone.”

More than 5000 people have signed an on-line petition that calls for urgent action to address deficiencies in Iowa’s mental health care system. Steve Baumert, the president and CEO of Jennie Edmonson Hospital in Council Bluffs is chairman of the Iowa Hospital Association’s board of directors. He was at the statehouse today to deliver that message to state policymakers.

“You have a chance to change lives and save lives,” he said, “and what a tremendous legacy that would be.”

Peggy Huppert of the National Alliance on Mental Illness said Iowa has reached a “tipping point.”

“Mental illness affects tens of thousands of Iowans and they’ve raised their voices in unison to say: ‘More must be done,'” Huppert said.

Preliminary discussions also continued at the statehouse today over a plan to improve mental health care services for children.

Senator Chuck Grassley is scheduled to have what he describes as a routine outpatient medical procedure this Friday.

“I’m going to spare you the details, but it’s kind of a hernia fix,” Grassley said this morning. “I’ll be back at work in the Senate for a vote Monday at 5:30.”

Grassley has not missed a vote in the Senate since 1993 and he told Iowa reporters this morning he hopes to keep that streak going. Grassley, who is 84, may have to suspend his jogging routine, though. Grassley’s son had a similar surgery last year and Grassley said he’s been warned he may not “be very active for quite a while.”

“I’ll have a light schedule next week,” Grassley said.

Grassley revealed earlier this year that he aims for a 9 p.m. bedtime every day. That’s because he gets up at 4 a.m. several days each week to go on a three-mile run before heading into the office.

Iowa’s Republican governor today said her six-year plan to phase in a 23 percent cut in Iowa’s personal income tax rates is “done in a responsible manner.”

“I feel very good about the proposal that we put forward,” Governor Kim Reynolds said. “It reduces taxes, reduces rates and really modernizes the tax code, which needs to happen.”

Reynolds spoke with statehouse reporters early this morning, several hours before debate is likely to begin on the Iowa Senate GOP’s plan. Senate Republicans propose cutting taxes by $4 billion over the next five years. Reynolds’ plan — by comparison — would cut $1.7 billion over the next six years.

“I’m excited that we’re talking about tax cuts and we wouldn’t have this opportunity…if it hadn’t been for the federal tax cuts that were passed in December…The conversaion that we’re having today is a positive conversation,” Reynolds told reporters. “I want to make sure that I do it in a responsible way and I believe the tax plan that I put forward does that.”

There is one huge similarity between the Senate Republicans’ tax plan and the governor’s. Both do away with the state tax deduction for federal taxes. It makes Iowa’s income tax rates look higher when compared to other states than they actually are. Unlike the Senate GOP plan, the governor’s plan would place a hold on any proposed tax cuts if the state’s financial situation worsens.

“If, for some reason, the economy stalls again, we’ve got a safeguard in place, but — if what I believe will happen is we’re going to see significant growth and the trigger would accelerate the tax cuts,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds, though, is not proposing a reduction in the state’s corporate income tax. Senate Republicans are. Senate Republicans also propose raising income taxes on credit unions. Reynolds is not.

Friday marks the birthday of famed childrens’ author Dr. Seuss, so schools across Iowa and nationwide are holding events all this week to celebrate literacy.

Jaimi Bird, a speech language pathologist in central Iowa, says students in her learning center’s LEAP, or Language Enrichment Academic Program, are learning to love reading.

“The children in our LEAP classroom are performing a readers’ theater,” Bird says. “Readers’ theater is a great way to practice reading fluency and we’re focusing on one of Dr. Seuss’ ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ books. It’s fun for the kids and they did a craft project making hats that they can wear when they do the theater.”

Bird helps run Enrichment Therapy & Learning Center in Urbandale which tutors children from ages two through 18. She says literacy is vital and it’s a skill that directly impacts academic and social prosperity.

“Reading sets up children for success all the way through their lives,” Bird says. “Not only does it open so many doors to learn knowledge, it provides entertainment and enjoyment for the rest of our lives.”

As part of Read Across America Week, Bird offers some advice for parents on helping their kids pick books they’ll read.

“There’s so many different reasons for reading,” Bird says. “If you want the child to be reading for enjoyment, work together to choose a great book that is fun. If you want to learn about something new or there’s something they’ve been learning about at school, teach the child how to look up a book that goes with that topic.”

Studies find children who read at home enjoy a substantial advantage over children who don’t.

The National Education Association’s Read Across America Week is an annual reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading.

Governor Reynolds with representatives of Iowa ABI, community colleges

The presidents of Iowa’s community colleges and the Iowa Association of Business and Industry have signed an agreement to “catalogue” the hands-on workplace training that’s available for students.

“Such as job shadowing, apprenticeships, internships, career coaching — just to name a few,” Liang C. Wee, president of Northeast Iowa Community College in Peosta, said this morning during an event in the governor’s formal office.

David Zrostlik, the president of Stellar Industries in Garner, is chairman of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry’s board of directors. He said the partnership aims to highlight the community college training programs that help students land one of the many jobs available in Iowa’s manufacturing sector.

“All of this is very important as we seek to grow Iowa’s workforce,” Zrostlik said.

Rob Denson, the president of Des Moines Area Community College, told reporters the best way for businesses to “prime the pipeline” is hire a student while they’re in college.

“It gives them an opportunity to understand what that career is really like, get to know a particular employer and, when they graduate…I call it a capture rate,” Denson said. “We have a very high rate of students who are going paid internships, staying with those companies.”

Governor Kim Reynolds said there is a “war for talent out there” and she’d like to see every community college student have the opportunity to learn in a workplace.

Governor Kim Reynolds today said she is “pulling all state agencies together” to review school safety measures.

“We’re going to go through and look at what we’re doing, how we’re coordinating, how we’re communicating, what’s working well, what some of the shortfalls are,” Reynolds told reporters. “We’ll talk about who else we need to bring to the table.”

But Reynolds, a Republican, said the correct response to the Valentine’s Day shooting at a Florida school is “holistic” rather than solely directed toward gun-related measures.

“What happens if you get so focused on one thing, it shuts that conversation down and that should not be happening right now,” Reynolds said after an event in her capitol office. “We need to keep that conversation open and we need to look at things we can do right away and then we maybe need to take a look at things we need to do going forward.”

The governor listed things like having more “active shooter” drills in schools as well as establishing a single public entry to school buildings. She’s also open to discussing the idea of a state law that would let law enforcement seize a person’s guns for three days, if there’s credible evidence they intend to do harm others or themselves.

“We just have to make sure we have due process in place also,” Reynolds said. “I mean, that’s really important, too, because as we’ve said even with the ‘watch list’ there are names that are on there that shouldn’t have been and it’s not very easy to get them off, so we just have to make sure. I don’t think that that’s unreasonable.”

Yesterday, a Democrat in the Iowa House proposed creating “extreme risk protective orders” to give Iowa law enforcement the authority to temporarily confiscate firearms from an Iowan who is suicidal or acting erratically, but he withdrew the idea before a vote could be taken. State Representative Art Staid of Cedar Rapids said he would bring the matter up “again and again” this legislative session.

More people have died in traffic crashes in Iowa through the first two months of this year compared to the same period last year.

Iowa State Patrol Sergeant Nate Ludwig says there were 25 traffic fatalities in January and at least 23 this month. “Forty-eight through two months and we’re not done with February – that’s a lot,” Ludwig says. A total of 40 people died in traffic crashes on Iowa roads over the first two months of 2017.

Snow and ice were blamed for a lot of fatal crashes in recent weeks, but according to Ludwig, too many motorists fail to alter their driving habits in the winter. “Speed is the number one cause of all accidents, all fatalities, but the 92-car pile-up and the 70-plus car pile-up in Ames really show how people in Iowa are driving this winter. It’s basically just traveling too close together and too fast for the conditions,” Ludwig said.

The 70-plus car pile-up on Interstate 35 near Ames happened on February 5. Heavy snow and high winds swept across the entire state that day and contributed to traffic crashes that claimed nine lives. Just 12 days later, during another winter storm, the 92-car pile-up happened on I-35 near Huxley.

Ludwig is hoping motorists will reduce their speed when the next bad weather event strikes. “That’s the biggest thing, motorists just need to slow down,” Ludwig said. “We’re likely to get a storm sometime in March, so it’s going to be another driving check for people to slow down.”

Three Iowans were killed in two separate crashes on Monday night. A 42-year-old Fort Dodge woman was killed when her van crossed the center line on Highway 169 and collided with a pickup near Fort Dodge.

The other crash killed two people near Albia. Police say a man delivering pizzas was assaulted and the suspect stole his car. That car sped away and it collided with another vehicle on Highway 34 – killing both drivers, residents of Centerville and Allerton.

The group claims Grassley has gotten $220,000 from the National Rifle Association and they want him to refuse future contributions from the organization. Grassley says that figure isn’t right.

“It’s a matter of public record,” Grassley says. “Anybody can go to the FEC records and find out but since a PAC can’t contribute more than $10,000 in an election year, it seems like $200,000 is absolutely incorrect.”

The activists, who aren’t using a name, are organizing the event via Facebook. They call for action on anti-gun legislation, enacting universal background checks and banning assault weapons and bump stocks. Grassley says he’s on board with at least one of those issues.

“I’m interested in making sure bump stocks can’t be sold,” Grassley says. Those devices enable a semi-automatic weapon to fire faster and came to light following the shootings in Las Vegas last fall that left 58 people dead.

Grassley says federal agencies, including the FBI, need to do a better job of creating and utilizing databases that bar certain people from being able to buy firearms. He says state and federal agencies need to better communicate in putting people on the list who are felons, domestic abusers and those with both mental illness and a history of violence.

“It’s quite obvious that we wouldn’t have 23 people murdered in the Baptist church in Texas if the U.S. Department of the Air Force had reported that they’d kicked him out because of domestic abuse and felony,” Grassley says. “But he got a gun because his name wasn’t in there.” That’s a reference to the shootings last November in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

Grassley says legislation is now being written that’s tentatively to be named the Stop School Violence Act. It has multiple parts and Grassley highlights one of the facets.

“It would have grants from the federal government for schools to use to identify and address ‘risk people’,” Grassley says. “We’re told, but the president hasn’t specifically said so yet, but he’s willing to put $250-million into that program.”

Grassley says we need to make sure the government is doing its job, but adds, “We shouldn’t have to pass a law to make sure the FBI does what they didn’t do before.”